The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Hungary have signed a bilateral Cooperation Agreement in Riyadh today, Monday 6 Muharram 1437 corresponding to 19 October 2015. The Agreement is aimed at the enhancement of cooperation between the two countries on the development and utilization of atomic energy for peaceful uses. The Agreement sets a legal framework targeted at boosting scientific, technological and economic cooperation between the two countries.
The Agreement was signed , for the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by Dr. Hashim Abdullah Yamani, the President of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE), while the Hungarian government was represented by His Excellency Dr. Macloch Shostak, Minister of National Development in Hungary.
The Agreement is focused on cooperation in varied fields, including design, construction and operation of commercial reactors, research reactors, security, safety, preparedness and response in nuclear emergencies. It also covers nuclear waste management, the utilization of nuclear technologies in such areas as medicine, industry, agriculture, as well as training and development of human resources.
Briefing on this occasion, Dr. Yamani, KACARE’s President, stressed that “signing the Agreement with Hungary will surely further the Kingdom’s steps to proceed with its efforts to deeply establish and upgrade the developmental process to generate a mix of varied and sustainable resources of atomic and renewable Energy”. This march, His Excellency the President added, will no doubt provide the opportunity to preserve, for generations to come, the depleting hydrocarbon resources. The President added further that “while the Kingdom carries on with such a deeply-rooted vision in mind, it certainly fully realizes its essential role as a principal energy source worldwide. In the meantime, the Kingdom working hard to secure its future energy resources. Hungary is one of those countries that have adopted advanced leading technological industries. Considering all these aspects, the Agreement will undoubtedly contribute to the process of technology transfer and, at the same time, will allow the Kingdom to share the best practices followed in the same operation of atomic reactors. Again, with all these aspects in mind, the Kingdom is relentlessly working to develop its own resources of alternative energy, to name but few, atomic energy, wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy. Dr. Yamani concluded “The overall objective of the Kingdom is to diversify its investment basket in energy, while our domestic demand for energy is on the increase. The annual increase in the domestic demand for energy ranges now between 6% and 8%. Forecasts indicate that the Kingdom will have to increase its generated power by 80 gega-watt by 2040. Dr. Yamani further stated that “With such an increase in the local demand for energy, which is expected to increase about three times over the next ten years, it is of paramount importance for the Kingdom to utilize, in a safe, sustainable and clean manner, the technology of atomic and renewable energy to meet its ever-increasing demand for energy. This will certainly permit us to preserve our hydrocarbon resources for generations to come.”
It is probably worthwhile to mention here that the Kingdom has had signed similar cooperation agreements with France, Korea, China, Argentina, Russia, and Finland, while it is planning to sign other similar agreements with other countries. Such endeavors on the Kingdom’s part will pave the way and make the door wide-open to enter into international strategic partnerships and investments in the construction and administering of nuclear enterprises. With such determination and momentum more and more options will be made available in this concern.
